Spare tire and luggage compartment for vehicle bodies



C. P. POND June 8, 1943.

SPARE TIRE AND LUGGAGE COMPARTMENT FOR VEHICLE BODIES Original FiledJan. 4, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENT OR Clarke P. Pond ATTORNEY C. P.POND June 8, 1943.

SPARE TIRE AND LUGGAGE COMPARTMENT FOR VEHICLE BODIES Original FiledJan. 4, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,,..m|lllllllHill"mHIW WWNH INVENTOR-Glarke P. Pond.

[I In.

Patented June 8, 1943 "UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE 2,321,239 r a 1sram: 'rmr: AND menace, comaa'rmrn'r roa vrmcm norms cam r. Pond,Philadelphia, Pa., 81...... to Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company,Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania 4 Claims. (Cl. 296-37)The invention relates to vehicle bodies and more particularly to thespare tire and luggage compartment arranged at one end of a sedan typeof such body. This application is a continuation of my copendingapplication Serial No. 310,732, filed December-.23, 1939, which was acontinuation of my application Serial No. 57,496, filed January 4, 1936,both applications now abandoned.

Among the objects of the invention are ease of accessibility to thecompartment without disturbing the occupants of the vehicle; ease oflocating and securing the spare tire in the compartment and its similar.easy removal therefrom, and the arrangement of the spare tire in thecompartment so as to provide the maximum of room in the compartment forthe storage of luggage and in such relation to the rest of thecompartment as to permit the ready storage and removal of the luggage.

These objects are in large measure attained by an arrangement whichutilizes the space of the luggage compartment to the best advantage. Toafford easy access, the compartment is provided with a generous sizedopening extending from the belt line to substantially the floor of thecompartment and from adjacent one side of the body to the other. Thespare tire is located in upright position flanking one of the uprightwalls of the compartment, and its lower portion may be received in awell provided in the bottom of the compartment. By this arrangement, thetire interferes least with the storage and removal of luggage andprovides the maximum room in the compartment to receive such luggage.Additional storage space, as for the reception of tools, may be providedby a downwardly oiiset tool box extending below the floor along thelower margin of the opening of the compartment which box may be closedby a removable floor board continuous with thefioor of the remainder ofthe compartment.

These and other objects and advantages and the manner in which they areattained will becomemore fully apparent from the detailed descriptionfollowing when read in connection with the drawings forming part of thisspecification.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a three-quarter perspective View of the rear of an automobilebody equipped with the invention showing the spare tire in place and thecover of the compartment in open position.

Fig. 2 is a similar view of an automobile equipped with the inventionshowing the compartment loaded with baggage.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary central longitudinal vertical sectional viewthrough the compartment with-the cover closed. l I

Fig. 4 is a'iragmentary transverse vertical sectional view through thecompartment in rear of the tire receiving well, only the left hand partof the compartment being shown in this figure.-

The invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings is applied toa sheet metal body construction, a construction which lends itself mostreadily to the realization of its objects. In these drawings, thechassis sills upon which the body is supported are indicated at III, across brace interconnecting these sills is indicated by l I, Fig. 3, thebody side walls are indicated generally by numerals l2 and It, the rearwall which slopes downwardly and rearwardly and merges by smooth roundedrear quarters into the side walls is designated by numeral l4, and thetrunk housing forming a part of the rear body wall below the belt linehas its portion forming parts of the top wall and of the side walls ofthe storage compartment designated by thenumeral li'and l5 respectively.

v The rear seat structure forming the front wall of the storagecompartment is designated generally by the reference numeral l6 and isoffset at the top some distance forwardly of the rear wall I 4 of thebody structure. It comprises spaced upwardly extending flanged channelmembers as 11 which are interconnected by transversely extending flangedchannel member l8 provided for a purpose to be presently described. Atthe tops these vertically extended members II are secured to adownwardly extending flange l8 at the forward end of a horizontallyextending transverse panel l9 forming the forward portion of the topwall of the storage compartment, the rear edge of said panel beingsecured through an overlapped relation with the rear wall ll of the bodyproper and the upper wall portion l5 of the luggage compartment.

The members I! are inclined downwardly and forwardly to conform to theinclination of the seat back and are secured bottom to one arm of anangle member 20, the other arm of which is secured to the flooring 2|.The flooring 2| may be a single plate extending from side to side of thebody and secured to the wheel housing portions 22 of the side walls l2and I3 through edge flanges as 23 overlapping and spot welded to thewheel housing. At the front this flooring plate 2| is downwardly ofisetand connected to the forwardly extending portion of the body flooring(not shown). The main portion of the flooring normally closed by a coverII, this cover being hinged at the top through the hinges indicated atI! and latched at the bottom through the latch indicated at 21. Thecover may be heldin open position as indicated in Pig. 1 by acollapsible brace II or other suitable means.

The top margin of this opening is substantially in the plane of thepanel I! forming-the forward portion of thetop of the compartment, thebottom margin of the opening is but slightly above the hear orcompartment bottom 2i, and laterally the opening extends substantiallyfrom one side wall of the trunk housing portion of the wall to the otherside. As clearly appears in Figs. 1 and 2, this provides a means ofready access to .the' storage compartment which is thus substantiallybounded at the front by the rear seat wall, at the sides by the wheelhousings 22, portions of the side walls II, II of the body and the sidewalls ll of the trunk housing, at the rear and top by the panel II, thetop wall II of the trunk housing and the-cover 2i, and at the bottom bythe iloor plate 2i. i

The depth of the storage compartment woul often be insufilcient toreceive the spare tire in an upright position especially where the fioorplate is so offset above the lower edge of the body to receive thegasoline tank between the side walls of. the body and above their loweredges. To take care of this, the present invention provides in the door21 of the compartment at the location designated for the spare tire awell 2! conforming generally to the shape and adapted to receive thelower portion ofthe tire, as 29, when the latter is insubstantially'vertical stored position flanking the wall I, M of thecompartment as indicated in Figs. land 3.

It will be clear by reference to Figs. 1 and 3 that when the cover II isin the raised position as shown in Fig. 1, the spare tire I. which inthis instance is shown mounted on the spare wheel 8| can be readilybrought into position by first sliding its lower portion into the well28, the upper portion of which is for this purpose widened at 28d, andby then swinging the upper portion of the tire forwardly around thelower portion as a fulcrum and against the rear seat wall ii. Theremoval of the tire is, of course, achieved by the opposite procedure.

When in this storage position it is secured in place by any suitablemeans such as the eye bolt 3| secured centrally to the cross member I!of the rear seat structure and the hook bolt 32 passing through thecenter of the wheel 30 carrying the spare tire 29, the wheel and tirebeing held in place by a spider 32' slipping over the hook bolt 32anddrawn against the bolting-on flange of the wheel surrounding. itscentral opening by a wing nut it.

By reference to the drawings, it will be seen that the tire located inthis position provides a wide storage space on each side thereof betweenits sides and the wheel housing portions 22 of the side walls, a space:amply wide to readily receive a luggage bag as '34. The bag can bereadily brought into position into this space by sliding it forwardlyalong the fioor 2| of the -compartment. The extreme roominess providedby this arrangement of the spare tire in substantially upright positionand in flanking relation to the one wall of the compartment is readilyapparent from the various views, Fig. 2 in particular giving a graphicillustration of the spaciousness by the number of pieces of luggageshown stored in this space.-

Even where the trunk housing projection from the rear wall of the bodyis not present, and

the lower portion of rear wall is extended down at the same inclinationas the upper as indicat'ed by the'dot and dash line 35, see Fig. 3,

I, the compartment still has ample room for the storage of the sparetire and a number of pieces of luggage and thus attains in substantialdegree the objects of the invention.

The spew in'the rear of'the gasoline tank may be additionally utilizedby forming allow-nwardly projecting box it in the floor plate zi whichbox may serve as a tool box, thus located in a readily accessibleposition. The top of this tool box may normally be closed by removablefioor board 31 flush with the flooring plate Ii. As shown in Figs. 1 and3 the well portion 28 of the flooring may be made as a separate stampingflanged in its edges and secured through its edge-flanges as by weldingto the margin of an opening provided in the fioor plate 2|. The rearmargin of this separate stamping may form with the floor plate a boxsection to stiffen the floor in this region as indicated at 38 of Fig.3.

From the foregoing description it will be readily apparent that I haveprovided a new and novel arrangement of luggage and spare tirecompartment which is very easy of access and which provides a maximum ofspace for storage, it will be understood that the specific form shownand described is capable of extensive variation and modification allwithin the skill of those skilled in this art, and it is my purpose inthe following claims to claim the invention broadly to bring all suchvariations and modifications within the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A closed pleasure car body of conventional lines having a built-instorage compartment in rear of the rear seat back, said storagecompartment being closed at the front by the rear seat back, at thebottom by the floor panel relatively fiat in its main portion and raiseda substantial distance above the lower margins of the side walls of thebody, at the sides by portions of the body side walls and at the rear bya portion of the body rear wall, said fioor panel being provided at thefront of said compartment with a transversely extending well the bottomof which is depressed below the level of the main portion of the floorpanel and arranged to receive a spare tire in said compartment disposedin upright position flanking the rear seat back, whereby a maximum ofluggage storage space is provided laterally and rearwardly of a tiredisposed in said well, said storage space being achieved clined rearwall and having a built-in storagecompartment forwardly of said wall,the front wall of said compartment being formed by a seat back disposedforwardly of the rear body wall, the front portion of the top wall ofsaid compartment connecting said rear wall at about the belt line withthe rear seat back near the top thereof, the bottom of said compartmentbeing arranged above the lower margins of the 7 body side and rear wallsand being provided in its top portion arranged forwardly of the inclinedrear wall of the body and whereby a maximum luggage storage space isprovided laterally and rearwardly of said tire without encroaching uponthe normal passenger space and without extending the conventional linesof the body rearwardly.

3. In an automobile body comprising side walls and an upright transversestructure arranged between said side walls and separating a passengercompartment from a luggage compartment, said luggage compartment beingdefined additionally by a substantially horizontal bottom wall and asubstantially horizontal top wall and furthermore by a transverse bodyend wall, said body end wall being provided with an opening givingaccess to said luggage compartment, the length of said lugg ecompartment at the bottom between said end wall and said transversestructure being in the longitudinal direction of the automobile severaltimes, the thickness of a spare tire, the height of the luggagecompartment between the main portions of ,said bottom wall and said topwall being less than the diameter of a spare the. at least one of thesehorizontal walls being provided with an outward bulge adjacent thetransverse wall structure so as to increase the height in the region ofthis bulge to at least the diameter of a spare tire,-

means for fastening a spare tire in the region of said bulgesubstantially flatly against said transverse structure, whereby with thespare tire arranged in the region of said bulge a maximum of luggagestorage space extending unobstructedly from the main portion of thebottom wall to the top of ,the luggage compartment is provided laterallyand rearwardly of such a spare tire, said storage space being adapted toaccommodate several large suitcases and a plurality of smaller pieces ofluggage.

4. A closed pleasure car body having a builtin storage compartment inthe rear of the passenger compartment, said storage compartment beingdefined at the front by a transverse upright structure, at the bottom bya floor panel comprising a relatively flat main portion, at the sides byportions of the body side walls, at the rear by a rear wall and at thetop by a substantially horizontal wall structure which is joined to saidside wall portions and to the upper por-. tion of said transversestructure, the height of said compartment between the main portions ofthe floor panel and of the wall structure at the top being less than thediameter of a spare tire of the car, said floor panel being provided atthe 7 front of said compartment with a transversely extending well thebottom of which is depressed below the level of the floor panel andadapted to receive a spare tire in said compartment disposed in uprightposition flanking said transverse structure, whereby a maximum ofluggage storage space is provided laterally and rearwardly of a tiredisposed in said well, said well being adapted to allow a spare tire tobe brought into position by first sliding its lower portion into thewell, and then swinging the upper portion around the lower portion as afulcrum and against the transversely extending wall.

CLARKE P. POND.

